In this episode, I speak with eco-radical and guerrilla ontologist philosopher and writer Julian Langer. In this wide-ranging discussion, we discuss the middle-spaces of social engagement with technology and industrial infrastructure within an eco-pessimist perspective, Julian’s encounters with the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion and the mainstreaming of climate/environmental activism, the “ineffable visceral space” of his encounter with cancer and modern medicine, and maximizing individual freedom within the varying “intensities of capture” of civilized life.

This discussion with Julian covers a great deal of territory, meandering as conversations often do, with general (and quite specific) reflections on the nature of resistance and liberation within an eco-pessimist perspective — nestled within Julian’s ontological anarchist approach to philosophy, writing, and activism. How can a more pessimistic view of life enable us to more fully engage with the reality we find ourselves in — one of ecological collapse, political oppression, runaway climate change, and mass extinction? In connecting with wild nature — our wild nature — we can maximize our freedom within the various “intensities of capture” of civilization, as Julian defines it in this discussion. Along with these general reflections, Julian describes his experience with cancer, medical treatment, technology, and death — as explored in his moving essay ‘Cancer, Technology, and an Ineffable Visceral Space’: “Everyone was a cancer patient and everyone was--like all those people who go to cancer hospitals, have the best care in the entire fucking world and don’t make it--going to die. This was an all-consuming thought. And really, what was the point of it all? Why had I bothered to go through all that, if it was just going to be a less intense version of that for the rest of my time alive?” (http://bit.ly/2zd7MPg) We touch on all these themes and more in this episode.

Julian Langer is the author of two books: ‘Feral Consciousness: Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and Return to the Woods’ and ‘Feral Iconoclasm.’ Julian defines his himself as an eco-anarchist, guerrilla ontologist philosopher, musician, and activist. Julian exists and resides on the land of Briton.

In this episode, I speak with anarchist, activist, and writer Peter Gelderloos. Peter is the author of numerous books, two of which we examine in this interview — ‘How Nonviolence Protects The State’ and ’Worshiping Power: An Anarchist View of Early State Formation.’

In this discussion, I ask Peter to examine the most lauded nonviolent movements in recent history: the anti-colonial movement in India in the early 20th century (in which Mahatma Gandhi became well known for his use of nonviolent resistance against British rule) and the civil rights and anti-war movements in the United States in the 1950s through the 1970s. As Peter elaborates in his book ‘How Nonviolence Protects The State,’ nonviolence and pacifism in general severely limit resistance movements in adequately and seriously upending and defending against entrenched systems of oppression and violence — the State being the ultimate manifestation of this in the world today (and through out much of human history, as we explore later). We get at the root of his critique of nonviolence, and attempt to clarify his position on this subject.

In the later half of this episode, we move onto his most recent book ‘Worshiping Power,’ in which Peter examines early state formation in societies through out human history. What stands out from this discussion is: 1) there are numerous examples of societies throughout human history that have fluidly and successfully moved through pre-state, state, and post-state in their organizing structure; 2) the formation of the State in any given society is not the culmination of human “progress” — this narrative is ultimately the product of chauvinistic and patriarchal forms of thought, an attempt to justify the genocidal current that runs through any defense of the State as the ultimate form of human organization. As Peter demonstrates in this work, the now common view of the State, and our resistance (or lack of) to State power, is tied to these widespread assumptions. The sooner we recognize the faults in that line of thinking, the better off we will be in organizing and adequately expanding our use of tactics in dismantling the State, as well the logic of Capital the State defends and imposes upon us.

Peter Gelderloos is an anarchist, activist, and the author of numerous books and essays relating to the subjects of anarchism and resistance movements, as well as historical analysis of early state formation in human societies. Some of his works include ‘What is Democracy?,’ ‘How Nonviolence Protects the State,’ ‘Anarchy Works,’ ‘The Failure of Nonviolence: From the Arab Spring to Occupy,’ and ‘Worshipping Power: An Anarchist View of Early State Formation.’ Peter currently resides in Spain.

In this episode, I speak with anarchist and primitivist writer and philosopher John Zerzan. We discuss his deep analysis of the roots of Time as we understand it to be in the modern sense (explored in a collection of essays titled ‘Time & Time Again’), the roots of agriculture and the domestication of life, the detrimental impact this transition has had on human health and physical development, the neuroses of mass society (alienation, depression, anxiety, etc.), the wholesale disappearance of community, and the threat technological advancement poses for complex life on the planet.

As mentioned above, we begin the discussion by examining the concept of Time, as expressed in John’s collection of essays ‘Time & Time Again,’ published by Detritus Books. As John writes in his essay ‘Time and its Discontents’: “The further we go in time the worse it gets. We inhabit an age of the disintegration of experience, according to Adorno. The pressure of time, like that of its essential progenitor, division of labor, fragments and disperses all before it.”❂ Everything, as John points to his writing, becomes subject to the will and tyranny of Time, a process that continually disempowers us in the service of technological advancement and economic growth — ideological constructs that serves the continuation and legitimization of “Civilization” more broadly, regardless of the detrimental impacts this structure has on human life and the complex living systems of this planet.

John and I also discuss the root of the pervasive neuroses, destructive addictive behaviors, and outbursts of violence in modern society — all of which stem from the alienation produced by the community-destroying elements present in civilized life today. Through John’s examination of anthropological evidence of humanity’s pre-historic past, we can understand that much of what we take for granted to be “normal” human behavior and development is really, in the scope of things, a rather recent product of the logic of technological and economic progress inherent in capitalist development — the most recent phase in global civilization’s aim to expand and protract itself into every aspect of the human experience on this planet. What can we learn from this examination of human life before the rise of symbolic thought and agriculture? We discuss this and more in this episode.

John Zerzan is an American anarchist and primitivist philosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocate drawing upon the ways of life of hunter-gatherers as an inspiration for what a free society should look like. Some subjects of his criticism include domestication, language, symbolic thought and the concept of time. His most recent books are ‘A People's History of Civilization’ and ‘Time and Time Again,’ both released this year (2018).✧

In this episode, I talk with Franklin Lopez, also known as the Stimulator, host of the SubMedia program "Here's The Fuckin' News," and former host of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

In this conversation, Franklin discusses the aims of the SubMedia media collective, as well as Franklin's iconic role as the shit-talking riot-loving anti-authoritarian character the Stimulator (currently the host of SubMedia's "Here's The Fucking News"). Franklin also gets into the humble role filmmakers and content generators have in collective organizing and coordinating direct action, as well as the catch-22 of using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like to promote independent media and news - while simultaneously trying to build decentralized forms of online organizing and social media outside of centralized corporate media platforms.

"subMedia is a video production ensemble, which aims to promote anarchist and anti-capitalist ideas, and aid social struggles through the dissemination of radical films and videos. Founded in 1994, subMedia has produced hundreds of videos on everything from anti-globalization protests to films about shoplifting." Source: https://sub.media/about

Episode Notes:

- Keep up to date with SubMedia's "Here's The Fuckin' News" as well as their other excellent programs at their website: https://sub.media

Dr Bones is a conjurer, Egoist-Communist, political theorist, and gonzo journalist.

This conversation touches on some themes brought up in his most recent piece "New Years Day," a striking essay on the surreal quality of the time we all live in. Our conversation leads into our thoughts on the legalization of cannabis in parts of the US and the push back against it under the Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as well as an overview of 19th century Anarchist political theorist Max Stirner's writings and ideas and what Egoism looks like in practice. Bones then touches on the experience of living in Florida and the Deep South as a working-class Egoist-Communist, and the difficulties that come with that.

This discussion covers a wide variety of topics, and I thank Dr Bones for his engaging and necessary work, and for illuminating me on these subjects.